Chapter: 149
One thing was clear: the more he thought about it, the more explicit scenes from those cheesy novels started popping up in his head. It all dated back to the Ranger Corps, where he unexpectedly stumbled upon those books.
The Ranger who taught her mistakenly thought she was a boy and insistently handed her a pile of inappropriate novels, claiming that she needed to read them to win over her future lover. Those novels were strictly for adults.
At first, she firmly resisted, but his words about needing some proper knowledge for her future love made her quiver with curiosity, and she began to read them little by little—with shaky hands, no less.
The knowledge she gained back then left behind vivid images of all sorts of steamy scenes in her mind. Especially since the novels owned by the Ranger mostly revolved around snowy mountains.
Two men and women stranded on a snow-covered mountain, eating snow and munching on herbs to raise their body temperature while their bodies just kept freezing up.
To warm their frozen bodies, they had no choice but to press themselves against each other. Thinking it was a necessary action for survival, they shed their clothes, and just as they fit their bodies snugly together…
The herbs they shared began to show astonishing effects—now that was a situation that seemed all too familiar.
Snowflakes were falling instead of rain, and while it wasn’t freezing enough for them to die, the rainwater felt icily cold enough to give them the chills. Plus, being isolated in a cave together mirrored that steamy novel’s atmosphere perfectly.
A scene from the novel flashed in Noah’s mind. The image of a man taking off his clothes morphed into Lian, and a shivering woman’s form started resembling Noah herself.
“Noah?”
“…! Uh! W-what?”
“I was just checking if the water’s dripping on you is okay.”
“Ah…”
Noah’s gaze drifted from the wet floor, drenched by the dripping rain from her raincoat, to Lian sitting by the fire, folding her raincoat neatly beside him.
“Y-yeah, that makes sense…”
Her voice trailed off like a deflating balloon, as the heat rushed to her face, reddening it far more than the warmth of the fire. Perhaps thanks to the gag filter, a gentle steam wafted up from her head.
‘Ugh… Embarrassing.’
She hadn’t revealed the thoughts swirling in her head, but the idea of misunderstanding and crazy assumptions made her wish she could bury her head in a hole. She wanted to pull the hood of her raincoat over her face to hide it, but she feared that Lian would look at her like she was some sort of weirdo, so instead, she closed her eyes and set the raincoat aside.
‘I can’t face him…’
The fiery heat left behind a figurative burn across her mind as vivid images of Lian, bare and approaching her with an embrace, filled her head. Noah bit her lip, fixing her gaze on the floor between the campfire and the ground.
Swish—.
As the silence settled, the sound of rain battering against the cave and the crackling of the fire tickled her ears. The cold air swirled inside the cave like a gentle reminder of their surroundings, restoring the color in Noah’s cheeks.
Desperate to blow away the lingering heat, Noah began revealing what had happened so far.
After entering the forest to investigate, the Rangers had soon found themselves trapped in a thick fog. By the time they regained their senses, they were all scattered. Even sending up flare guns was useless in the fog, and no matter how much they walked, it felt like they were going in circles, leading them to establish a base and start moving from there.
“That’s when you found me.”
“Yeah. Sorry for dragging you along without saying anything. I thought about how the rain here comes from the snowy mountains, and you might catch a cold…”
“You’re just worried about me, right? It’s fine.”
Swish—.
Another wave of silence fell between them. Without realizing it, Noah began to fidget with her hands, scratching her knuckles in the middle of an odd itch.
Given their similar ages and genders, they had built a deep friendship, sharing an equal relationship. Noah, taking care of Nero, and Lian, caring for Iris—both had that shared responsibility to look after someone.
One was driven by a sense of duty, while the other was just overly kind-hearted. Their inherent goodness naturally drew them closer together. They were best buddies—well, at least they used to be.
‘When did it get so awkward between us?’
Both Noah and Lian had the same thought cross their minds at that moment. They simultaneously recalled a certain scene, nodding their heads down in unison as if they had stepped right out of a romantic comedy.
If one of them had ever had a proper relationship, they might have been able to gauge what they were feeling, but alas, one was the guy recognized by a unicorn, and the other had lived her life pretending to be a man.
“Haha… It’s a bit warm in here.”
“Maybe I added too much firewood.”
“Yeah.”
“Uh-huh.”
The atmosphere bounced between fluttery giggles and awkwardness. After a few minutes of silence, Noah couldn’t hold it in anymore and jumped up.
“Uh, let me check if the rain’s stopped!”
“I’ll help!”
“No! One of us needs to stay to keep the fire going, so load up some more firewood!”
Noah lifted the firewood she had set on a dry cloth and dropped it beside Lian with a thud. The hefty sound made Lian’s eyes widen.
“You brought something as heavy as this?”
“I didn’t… I made it after arriving here.”
“Made dry firewood?”
“Yeah. I learned how at the Ranger Corps. You can turn wet wood into dry firewood.”
“Wow… That’s impressive! You could make a fortune!”
Pfft…
Noah burst out laughing at the unexpected line. Just like magic, the mood lightened instantaneously.
“That only works because you use magic, you know? It’s a losing business.”
“Oh, I see?”
“Most skills we have as Rangers are reliant on magic for survival in the wild, making them somewhat inefficient. Who’d think to use magic to create dry firewood?”
“Oh… So what other skills do you have?”
Once the floodgates opened, the two of them leapt into an excited conversation. With a much lighter expression, Noah ensured that rain didn’t come into the cave and proceeded to grind herbs she had gathered during her time wandering the forest in a small bowl tucked in her waist pouch.
Pouring the green juice into a palm-sized dish, she placed a long wick inside, pulling one end out of the liquid to ignite it. Surprisingly, the wick caught fire but didn’t burn away. A bitter candle scent wafted through the air.
At that moment, something scurried away from the shadows, stretching beyond the glow of the fire. Lian gasped in horror at the sheer number of critters that scuttled away, his face turning pale—looking like a teacher running for safety.
“W-what was that?!”
“Probably bugs or reptiles that live in the cave. When the surroundings warm up, hibernating bugs or reptiles wake up hungry and crawl out toward the light. This scent deters creatures like that.”
“Did you learn that from the Ranger Corps too?”
“Yep.”
“That’s amazing.”
It felt like a reflection of how she’d been effortlessly goofing off, while Noah had been putting in the constant effort in the shadows. A hint of embarrassment washed over her.
“Ah, it’s not that impressive, really…”
Noah’s voice wobbled and faded to the end, blending with the continuous sound of the rain outside and the crackling of the fire, allowing her words to resonate strangely clear in the quiet.
“I just want to protect you and be helpful.”
“…”
Lian stared blankly at Noah, wide-eyed at her unexpected confession. In that moment, he felt a deep sense of comfort wash over him.
‘This is definitely Noah, isn’t it?’
Someone who always tried to protect others. Even while gazing far into the distance, she would still reach out to help someone who had fallen nearby.
Noah had always been a kind-hearted person.
As Noah vigorously shook her head, trying to shake off the warmth spreading to her ears, she felt a mix of embarrassment and surprise at the sudden change in her friend. But she definitely didn’t dislike Noah. It just felt unfamiliar.
But that was all. Noah remained Noah, whether it was the first day she learned she was a girl or now.
“I’m sorry, Noah.”
“…?”
“I know I’ve been a bit distant for a while… Honestly, I was just overwhelmed by the fact that you’re a girl. I didn’t know how to handle it. Everything felt unexpectedly strange.”
“…”
Noah gazed down at her hands, realizing she had subconsciously tensed them, listening closely to Lian’s words.
“But Noah is Noah. It’s just your appearance that has changed. You’re still my friend—nothing has changed. I’m sorry for being late, but I want to apologize now.”
Lian spoke with a serious face before flashing a bright smile.
“And if it’s okay with you, let’s be close again like before. Haha… I can’t believe I’m so embarrassed now that I’ve said it.”
Feeling awkward, she scrubbed her face roughly and peeked at Noah. Noah relaxed her tightly clenched hands and said softly.
“…Thank you.”
The light of the fire flickered in her eyes, almost like tears were about to spill out.
Following Noah’s response, a brief silence set in. Was the rain easing up? The sound seemed to become softer.
“…Lian.”
“Yeah?”
“So, when it’s just the two of us—can I be a girl then?”
“W-what?”
Lian stuttered out, sounding as if her circuits had shorted out.
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